I'm excited that last night I finished a rough draft of the dissertation chapter I've been working on. That was my goal--to have this chapter draft done before my birthday. So, yay!

I started off the celebration last night at midnight with a champagne toast to me. :)

Instead of going out to a restaurant, I have requested a sumptuous meal at home. However, my tummy's been a little under the weather, so we are postponing the meal until Sunday brunch. I feel I can have a much more exciting celebration meal by preparing simple tasty things at home, instead of shelling out $$ at a restaurant. My birthday brunch on Sunday will include: champagne, lobster tail (so cheap right now!), käsespätzle, and a green salad with buttermilk dressing. YUM.

Today, DBF and I are going to go bowling and then hit up some thrift stores. I'm excited for the thrifting. There are a couple places I haven't been yet, and I am looking forward to checking them out.

On Saturday, my friend K. and I are going to go... thrifting! hehe. Exciting. I'm thinking I might like to check out the Salvation Army thrift store on Saturday, but I'm not sure. As an organization, they really skeeve me big time. I probably will give the store a look, though. I'm curious to see how it is.

My dad gave me a J. Crew gift card for my birthday. Nice of him! One thing I need, that J. Crew does well, is a really nicely-constructed pair of shoes. I've learned that you can buy cheap shoes, but it's still one of those areas where really good comfortable ones are just going to cost more. Also, thrifting doesn't really work because most people tend to run their shoes into the ground, as it were.

I also got a gift certificate from Sephora, for free lip gloss. And now I'm really regretting that I forgot to update my mailing address with DSW! They usually do good birthday promotional coupons! Oh, well.

I'm excited for my day of bowling and thrifting. And I'm going to go to a cupcake bakery I have been avoiding like the plague. lol. DBF is plotting a cake for my Sunday brunch, but it's a surprise. However, I've been strongly agitating for chocolate.

In other news, not totally unrelated, I recently tried Zumba. I liked it! I thought the learning curve was a little steep until I realized I was starting out with an intermediate Zumba tape, and that the weights made it even more complicated than normal intermediate Zumba. However, it was really fun!! Definitely something good to mix into my exercise routine. I wouldn't say it was "just like dancing," but I did like that you used lots of sexy, silly movements. It's fun.